Brucella: a cause of peripheral neuropathy.
Brucellosis is a common infectious disease in Mediterranean countries. We evaluated the peripheral nerve involvement in patients with brucellosis. Thirty-eight patients with brucellosis were examined. Four of them were excluded because of B(12) deficiency and diabetes mellitus. Thirty-four patients were included. The average age was 43.08 +/- 15.3 years. Patients were divided into two groups according to the abnormality in their peripheral nervous system (PNS) examination. All patients underwent nerve conduction and needle electromyography EMG studies. Twenty normal healthy subjects were used as a control group. Axonal sensorimotor neuropathy was determined in 12 patients who also had abnormality in PNS examination. After 6 months of treatment, nerve conduction studies were nearly normal in these patients. The EMG findings of the remaining 22 patients were normal, as well as the clinical examination. However, the motor conduction velocities of median (p < 0.001), peroneal (p < 0.001), and ulnar (p < 0.05) nerves were decreased, F wave latencies were prolonged in the posterior tibial and peroneal nerve, and distal latency was also prolonged in the posterior tibial nerve (p < 0.05) when compared to healthy subjects. Sensory conduction velocities of the median (p < 0.001), ulnar and sural (p < 0.05) nerve were also decreased. Brucellosis may be considered as a cause of clinical or subclinical peripheral neuropathy and should be evaluated especially in endemic areas.
Kutlu
Gulnihal
G
Department of Neurology, Ankara Training & Research Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ankara, Turkey. gulnihalkutlu@yahoo.com
Ertem
Gunay Tuncer
GT
Coskun
Ozlem
O
Ergun
Ufuk
U
Gomceli
Yasemin B
YB
Tulek
Necla
N
Inan
Levent Ertugrul
LE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002002:Brucella; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009431:Neural Conduction; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology